Schools Ask For Rules On Child Abuse Officials Want Hrs Help For Rules On Reporting

October 4, 1985|By Jim Runnels of The Sentinel Staff

TAVARES — Lake County School Board officials plan to ask the state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services for a meeting to discuss responsibilities in reporting child abuse cases.

Assistant Superintendant Pat Galbreath said Thursday school officials are not certain how to proceed when they get anonymous tips about school employees accused of child abuse.

Galbreath mentioned a recent case involving a Fruitland Park Elementary School teacher's aide who was confronted with allegations of sexual abuse, but Galbreath would not discuss other cases that played a part in the decision to meet with state officials.

In the Fruitland Park case, school officials said they received an anonymous complaint in February accusing an instructer of molesting boys. Galbreath said a discussion with Principal Shirley Johnston resulted in Johnston confronting Thomas Scott LeMon, who resigned.

No report was made to child abuse investigators at the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, as required by state law.

LeMon was arrested almost five months later and is being held at the Lake County Jail awaiting trial on multiple counts of child abuse, including two sexual battery cases that carry minimum 25-year sentences.

Galbreath said that because the information received by a teacher in an anonymous telephone call could not be substantiated, school board policy was followed.

''When we get an anonymous complaint that can't be substantiated, the only thing we can do is confront the employee and tell them the allegations,'' Galbreath said. ''That's what we did in this case.''

LeMon resigned and said he was leaving to accept another job. The school board later routinely approved the resignation, and members were not told what happened until several months later.

Galbreath said he has several concerns about contacting state authorities on such unsubstantiated complaints.

Galbreath said he wants HRS officials to tell him if they want to be contacted on all such complaints, and if not, what guidelines school officials should follow.

Florida statutes order certain officials, including doctors, nurses, police and any ''school teacher or other school official or personnel,'' to report child abuse.

The statutes also say that if investigations determine that there is no substance to the allegations, records detailing the complaint must be destroyed from local files and child abuse registry computers within 30 days. Other laws grant the reporters of child abuse blanket immunity from both civil and criminal penalties if they acted in good faith by filing the complaint.

Several school employees have said they were reluctant to report the allegations concerning LeMon because they did not know if they could be sued for slander if the allegations proved unfounded.